Caught In The Whirlwind
Posts tagged neil gaiman
Book 7: American Gods
Feb 18th
Title: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 624
Summary
Shadow is released from prison after finding out his wife has died. Unsure of what to do with himself, he joins up with a mysterious man and launches into a journey of self discovery which eventually expands outwards into a journey examining the very fabric of spirituality (not religion, exactly) in the united states.
Notes (Some Spoilers)
This is a fantastic book, and the second book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite authors for his ability to entwine multiple plot-lines into one cohesive unit and add hooks and twists to early parts of the book that don’t immediately call attention to themselves (“Oh, so the cat likes to eat tofu. That was random…I bet that’ll be used later”)
But it has the feel of more than just a good work of fiction. Through his story, Mr. Gaiman also casts a critical eye over the spirituality of the entire nation, offering an outsiders perspective on the way our spirituality has changed from the time our ancestors arrived in various ways bringing with them their gods from the old world and how, as time went on people began to lose sight of where they came from, caught up in the next big thing.
The last…oh, half of this book just snared me and I basically couldn’t put the book down. I sometimes zone out when characters engage in dreams and wacky spiritual trips through their own subconscious but that wasn’t the case here. I was glued to the story and left wondering what would happen next. Everything is intertwined from the beginning of the book all the way through to the end in a way that you don’t see coming and yet is believable once all is revealed.
My one small complaint is that some of the interludes between chapters, explaining how various gods arrived in the new world were a bit rough to get through. They tended to happen right as the book was getting good and I was more interested in continuing the story than being diverted.
But overall, I highly, highly recommend this book.
Next Book
The newest Sword and Laser book has been announced, so I think that’s what I’ll be reading next. The book: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Headed back into Sci-fi land for this one. I know nothing about the author or the book, so I’m hoping this’ll be a fun ride.
[50 in 365] Book 5: Neverwhere
May 14th
I remain screwed. No way I'm going to finish this anywhere close to 50. Oh well, I enjoy talking about the books, so I'll keep writing the posts.
My fifth book was…
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
It's a book about a man named Richard Mayhew that moves to London. Once he arrives there he stumbles across a girl wounded on the street and decides to bring her back to his apartment to help her mend. This act sets off a series of events that changes his life forever.
This book was recommended to me by Wassy after we had watched the Stardust movie. I had never read any of Neil Gaiman's previous works so she insisted that I read this book. I'm very glad I did.
The book is set in sort of a reality based fantasy setting, using the backdrop of modern London to create a fantastic world hidden beneath the city. The author does this in such a way that the reader realizes that the world is fantasy based, but there's a nagging suspiscion that everything talked about in the book could actually exist out there. This is further helped by the main character's point of view…a normal guy who's suddenly been thrust into a world he never knew existed. Thus whenever he stammers or questions the actions that are happening around him, he echos the disbelief of the reader as well.
Neil Gaiman's descriptive style is something I noticed right off the bat. The world of the book is rich with detail, however, he doesn't spend 10 pages setting up the room or what the characters look like. Instead, he draws your attention to certain aspects of things in a very calculated order. This more accurately mimics how one actually takes in something they've never seen before, gradually noticing the important details as the scene goes on, and not front loading everything with a lot of description that needs to be waded through in order to get to the point
Warning, minor ending spoilers are located in the next paragraph.
I especially enjoyed the ending of the book. Richard ends up leaving the fantasy world behind and resuming his normal life, that has been changed slightly to give him everything he ever wanted. But the author didn't leave it like that. Because as is the case in life, once you have everything you ever wanted, you often realize that what you thought you wanted wasn't what you wanted at all. And so Richard rejects his perfect life and returns to the world of London Below, where his true path lies.
All in all, an excellent book. I'm going to be picking up some of his other novels for sure.
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